Side story 1: The haunted food court

December 2025

Ang Yam was neither happy nor sad about his life. The days were dull, but they had their share of fun. Ang Yam's job had been incredibly stable over the last 15 years at Good Chicken and Rice, so he didn't have much to worry about.

He had been serving the same dish over and over to dozens of customers every day for fifteen years.

For fifteen years, he had been going out after work with the other staffers of the food court where Good Chicken and Rice was rented a spot.

Ang Yam had long accepted the idea of being a chicken rice cook for the rest of his days. Born in a modest Malaysian family, he had emigrated early on to Singapore hoping for a better life. Unfortunately, he did not find a better life in Singapore. But his son did find a better education.

It was all for his son, now.

"Ang Yam, you're day-dreaming again."

The voice pulled Ang Yam out of his reverie.

"Haha, right," Ang Yam said, "it's just all too repetitive. So when will we ever stop serving chicken rice?" He sighed. He had wanted to try other recipes for a while, but all the customers that came to Good Chicken and Rice would only ever ask for chicken rice! That or Whole Chicken for the hungriest.

"Never, I guess?" The man, Ang Yam's coworker, Umar replied.

Sighing, Ang Yam resumed chopping the chicken methodically while his coworker readied more plates with the rice and the sauce already neatly disposed.

"Umar," Ang Yam said without looking at his coworker, "think you could go for a drink after our shift? It's Saturday night, we should have fun too."

"Sure, when this shift ends, if it's ever gonna ends," Umar replied.

Ang Yam shook his head. His coworker disliked his job, and he longed for more.

After working for so many years together, they knew each other as two brothers would. But, sadly, Ang Yam couldn't do much about Umar's pessimism.

There were too many orders waiting.

"Order 73, ready !" Ang Yam shouted.

Immediately, a man stood afar to come to pick up his order.

Then a woman started screaming.

"Ahhhhhh!"

The customer dropped his plate, sending bits of chicken and sauce flying everywhere.

"AOOOOooohh"

This time, it was a man who had screamed.

More astonished screams rang out. It was as if a silent screaming coronavirus was quickly infecting everyone dining in the food court.

Customers screaming their head off was not good for business.

So Ang Yam courageously stepped out of Good Chicken and Rice store and walked to where people were screaming.

It was a dining room with a couple of empty tables, with nothing unusual at first sight.

But on a second look, he was shocked to see a whole chicken, cooked and headless, floating where a group of people had been eating just now.

The chicken wasn't still: it rocked left and right, like a light boat gently swaying on a calm sea.

Every time it rocked left, the unprepared people to its left would do one more step backward. It was the same when it rocked right.

Little by little, the shouts ceased, and as if thrown back in a sweet dream, the previous occupants of the table, who had run away screaming, came back, taking their phones out.

It seemed as if curiosity had taken the better of the onlookers.

However, soon after the onlookers took the first videos, the chicken mysteriously dropped down, turning into an inept chicken like any good cooked chicken should be.

The drop triggered another row of irrational fear among the onlookers; once again, several brave men and women ran away in fear of what appeared to be a Cursed Chicken.

Indeed, Ang Yam could already hear the people murmuring, "It's cursed, cursed...!"

He knew at that moment that Umar and he would have a shorter shift than usual.

Out of abundant safety, many people left, judging that leaving the chicken alone was a good decision.

--

After his shift, Ang Yam went to have drinks with his coworker and other staff members of the food court. They talked about the mysterious chicken, and many saw in this event the one proof needed to confirm that animal spirits, sometimes, can come back in their delicious meat.

Rumors spread wildly, and to the bad luck of Ang Yam and Umar, Good Chicken and Rice ran out of business in the days that followed.

But Ang Yam knew his chicken.

His chicken was standard well-cooked chicken.

It couldn't be more dead.

It couldn't have been a spirit.

Besides, at that time, wasn't there also chopsticks floating next to the chicken?

Ang Yam didn't know what had happened, but he kept thinking of the event. Sadly, he could not explain what he and many others had seen.

--

A week later, the pay of Ang Yam has reduced so much that he decided it was time for another start.

He resigned together with Umar.

Together, they decided to take a new start for a dramatic turn in their life.

They opened a new street food stall, which they named...

"Better Chicken and Rice."

Unbeknownst to him, Ang Yam had just watched the first-ever anomaly in Singapore.

It was just the beginning.